Making Peace With February

I don't know what it is about February, but it's my least favorite month. With rare exception, February always and ironically feels like the longest month ever. Plus, I hate to be cold and February is typically the coldest month of the year in my little corner of the world. When I get chilled, I don't want to do anything or go anywhere which makes the days feel even longer. 

Knowing my feelings for February, I decided to challenge myself to three things: 

1) Write a blog post every day (After my long hiatus from regular blogging, that's quite a feat!) 

2) Create one piece of envelope art every day

3) Read at least one chapter from a book each day 

Today is February 28 and guess what? Once I publish this blog post, I will have reached my goals! I can honestly say that having those three goals really helped; surprisingly, it didn't feel like a burden. Now that February is over, I'm hoping to post to my blog somewhat regularly. As for the envelope art, I enjoyed the creative process, but these past few days I've really struggled to come up with people to address envelopes to. So I won't keep that up, but I took pictures of every envelope I designed so it will be easy for me to recreate specific designs when I want to send something fun. And I hope to continue reading at least one chapter a day. In February, I finished reading "Mere Christianity," by C. S. Lewis and "Atomic Habits," by James Clear. I'm now reading "A Grief Observed," by C. S. Lewis which I should finish tomorrow. I just picked up some new books from the library so I have a few choices about what to read next. I love reading and I'm glad to get back into it. It's been a while since I've taken the time.

It's been a good month. Sure, we had our ridiculous cold spell where I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch all day, but I was grateful for the motivation to get up off the couch and do something. I'm just grateful I can finally say that February isn't all that bad. 

One of my favorite envelopes. My friend gave me the dancing stamps so I had to come up with an envelope to send to Sam, our ballroom dancer. He loved it! :)

Envelope Art - Elder Stowell Edition

Since I made a goal to decorate one envelope each day in February, one of the hardest parts is deciding who to address it to each day. Sterling, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has become my default. Here are most of the envelopes I've addressed to him so far this month. I like some better than others. As I said the other day, done is better than perfect. Without that mentality I'd be paralyzed and never able to start, let alone finish, each envelope. 

For this group, I can't decide if I like the first or the second one best. On the first one, I love the lettering, the orientation, and the color scheme. The second one was fun to make as it illustrates the journey from our home to his, with a Texas stamp to complete the look. The other envelopes are relatively simple; they are more about the stamp and how it fits with the design. A couple of these ideas were inspired by designs I saw on Pinterest or The Postman's Knock, but most of them I came up with on my own.

I mailed one of these to Sterling today. The rest I've set aside and will mail one at a time over the next several weeks. 

I sure hope Sterling likes mail!! :)

Envelope Art Preview

For the past few years, I've enjoyed making fun envelope designs incorporating fancy lettering and various stamps. Because February is traditionally my least favorite month (how can 28 days feel sooo long??), I challenged myself to decorate one envelope each day this month. I had fun with today's design so I wanted to share. It's not completely finished because I don't know who I'm going to send it to, so I'll have to add the name and address later. 

Like many of my projects, there are things I'd do differently if I had to do it over again, but done is better than perfect so here you go! I'll share a few more of my creations before the month is through.

Merry Christmas 2019

Wow! It's been a great year! Savannah returned from her mission in July; Spencer in October. We drove to Utah for Thanksgiving so that we could get a family picture before Sterling left on his mission on December 18. We haven't been together for the holidays since 2016 so I'm glad we made the effort to all be together, however briefly. I sure love these guys.



I've done a lot of hand lettering this past year. I love to doodle various sayings and words. This was the back of our Christmas card. I wrote it in pencil on white paper, smudged it a bit, then scanned it and reversed the colors. I love how it looks just like chalk on a chalkboard!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2020. Let's make it our best year so far!

Monday

It's been that kind of a Monday. Somehow, this cute saying in fun lettering makes it laughable.

I stumbled upon the blog radandhappy.com a couple days ago and I'm in love. Her lettering and her style are inspiring.

Monday is all but over for me. Tomorrow will be better! :)

Pen Perfection

I will admit it, I am a pen snob. I have had favorites over the years, but I have never loved a pen as much as I love the Pilot G-2 with the 0.38 tip (ultra fine point). My handwriting is better when I use this pen. I love to doodle and practice various fonts and lettering techniques with this pen. I have placed them in strategic locations around the house, in my car, in my purse, so I can avoid using inferior instruments whenever possible. 

As I was shopping online this morning to replenish my supply, I came across a rather convincing review on Amazon. I was laughing through tears as I read the following to Jeff:

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was written with a G-2 pen. The only thing Thor’s hammer cannot crush? This pen! Harry Potter was only able to defeat He Who Shall Not Be Named because his wand contains a single Phoenix feather and also a G-2 Pen. When Navy Seals perform emergency tracheotomies in the heat of battle – they only use the shaft of the G-2. And no matter how intense the fight becomes – No G-2 is left behind! When Rambo writes love letters to his knife – what does he use? The G-2. Yo momma’s like a Pilot G-2. …Everybody wants to get their hands on her. Kevin Costner didn’t have gills in Waterworld. He was just snorkeling with a G-2 pen. Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to a G-2 pen! And with the G-2, no more chicken scratch – just beautiful calligraphy. Why won’t Donald Trump change his hair style? Because that is where he hides his golden G-2! Where have all the cowboys gone? They’re in Office Depot doodling on tiny paper scraps with sample G-2s. What is truly in Area 51? The Ark of the Covenant filled with G-2 pens. That's why you die if you touch the Ark. NOBODY steals God's G-2s! Captain Hook's favorite hand replacement? His G-2 attachment. How did Stevie Wonder go blind? He looked directly at the shimmering glory of the G-2 pen. How did Houdini pull off the impossible so many times? The answer was always a G-2. Little Known Fact: When Ghandi died he had only 10 possessions. 9 of them were Pilot G-2s and the 10th was a tracking number for ink refills from Amazon. Stephen Hawking can actually talk. He's just speechless after experiencing the unmatched brilliance of the G-2. What was the secret behind Mother Theresa's kindness, enlightenment, and peaceful tranquility? She owned a Pilot G-2. Why isn't Tony Stark content with his billions of dollars? Because he has not been able to invent the G3. The G-2 is virtual perfection!

Thank you, R. Fuqua, whoever you are. You made my day. :) 

And yes, my new box of G-2's should be here next week. Hooray!!

For the record, this is not a paid endorsement. I don't get paid to promote anything on this blog. I don't get money or brownie points if you click on a link or if you buy something. I just wanted to share something that made me laugh (the review) and something that makes me happy (the pen). That's all. :)